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Published: August 9th 2010
3 pages of photos for our final blog from the USA. Sorry!!!! We had a fabulous final week of this trip in Boston. Deciding to treat ourselves, we were very impressed with the Wyndham hotel in the Chelsea area of town. They looked after us very well and their free bus shuttle to the airport stop of the "T" subway system meant it was easy to get in and out of the centre.
On our first night our friend Joseph came to pick us up. We hadn't seen him since we said our goodbyes in Argentina nearly 4 years ago so it was quite a reunion. He took us out to a great Italian restaurant in the Somerville area and then onto a bar in the Harvard Square district.
The next day, left to our own devices, we walked the
Freedom Trail. This walk of around 3 miles took us from Boston Common through many parts of town and taught us a lot about the history of the city. We took in the historical plaques telling us all about the likes of Samuel Adams who is actually famed, not for his beer, but for his part in the
battle for independence. His grave and those of his conspirators against the Crown are quite bizarrely in the same cemetery as Mother Goose!
Our walk took us through the picturesque centre of the city where one of the "Cheers" bars was bursting at the seams. We also saw the moving holocaust memorial where row upon row of numbers, not names, adorn the glass walls of the six towers.
Then we moved on to North End. This was the Italian neighbourhood and many restaurants still exist as testimony to the heritage of the district. While we visited the
Feast of Aggrippina was well under way but it seemed more like a street festival with live music, marching bands and lots of food than a religious ceremony. The graveyard there had many broken headstones which the retreating British soldiers had apparently used for target practice. Strangely there was also a grave of someone born in Tetney, Lincolnshire, not far from where Russ grew up!
We continued our wanderings over the bridge and the Charles river to Charlestown on the North bank. The trail took us up the Beacon Hill where we were able to climb the 294 steps to
the top of the memorial obelisk. It was hard work and we were disappointed to find scaffolding obscuring our view. Scant reward for such exertions!! By the site of the USS Constitution we caught a water taxi back to the other side and made our way back to our hotel.
The next morning we went off to explore Harvard Square. After Princeton University and its ivy clad buildings, we were a little disappointed with the architecture. Trish enjoyed wandering around the outside of Harvard Law School, but she didn't go into the admissions office to see if there was any chance of joining in! Instead Joseph picked us up and took us along the coast to the town of Essex. There we ate fried haddock and clams served with British style chips. It was a bit heavy on the stomach but it is a local tradition to go there so we're pleased we did it. Afterwards we had a walk along the sea front at Gloucester. The memorial to those lost at sea is particularly thought provoking.
Time was running out so the next morning we visited Chinatown. The portions of the lunch specials are ENORMOUS. You have
been warned! Less than US$5 for 3 courses but there was far too much food. It's a small Chinatown area though, so don't expect too much, but it was nice to see the phone boxes with their pagoda hats, although we couldn't shift the dozing drunk out of our photos!! On one square several people sat playing a game of some sort. If you can identify it, please let us know.
That evening we met Joseph at a "British" bar near Fenway Park. The pub was good and the beer was excellent but we were really there to visit the home of the Boston Red Sox. Our second baseball game of this trip was not as entertaining and the Red Sox were soundly thrashed by the Cleveland Indians. Still, it was a great atmosphere in there and Joseph's cousin had kindly arranged the tickets for us. We were able to go up into the offices to thank him personally which was nice.
So that left just one day in the USA. Our plan had been to get the ferry out to the Boston Harbour Islands. Sadly the weather had other ideas and drizzle in the morning saw us
go instead to the Prudential building and it's nice, dry shopping centre! We didn't buy much though and it turned into a very lazy day.
That night we went out on the subway to Alewife station at the end of the red line. There we were met by Joseph and taken to his family home to meet his parents. Joey senior is an amazing Italian chef and he had prepared pasta, risotto and chicken milanesa for us. Combined with free flowing Italian red wine, fine company and excellent conversation, we had a wonderful evening and we cannot thank them enough for their hospitality.
Departure day came and we had a lazy morning in the hotel before checking out, storing our bags, and going to the cinema.
The Girl Who Played With Fire was in Swedish with English subtitles but we really enjoyed it. A trip to the cinema, sorry, movie theatre, seemed a fitting way to finish our trip.
Then it was time to retrieve our bags and make our way to the airport. It's been an amazing three months but it's time to go back to the UK and start to get ourselves ready for our
next adventure - a return to Tunisia at the end of August!
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Dawn Smallwood
non-member comment
Thank you!
Thanks you for sharing your travels with us. All the best for Tunisia! Dawn